Collection 1: In-between Book Story Clips
by TashaMoon
Summary: This will be where I post the clips I write up of stuff that happens between the Into the Darkness series books. I encourage you to check out the book(s), but feel free to read this for fun even if you don't read the main story.
1. Tyson

**Finally this is posted! (Don't hate me please)**

 **AN 10/30/15:** Hello readers new and old! As promised, here is a clip of stuff that is happening between books. _If you are new_ , I encourage you to read the first book, as it will help you make more sense of this. If you don't though you can still kind of get what is happening, but it would probably better your experience of it if you knew the backstory of Book 1 stuff. For the lovely people who have stuck with me in this time between books- Thank you so much friends! You may have noticed I posted a revamped version of Chapter 1 in Book 1, if you haven't seen it you should take a look. I am very happy with how it turned out, personally. I will be, as I like to call it: Revamping, the first number of chapters from Book 1. I feel that I have grown as a writer since I posted those and it would be a more accurate depiction of my writing to let you guys know what you are investing your time in. Book 2 work is still chugging along, albeit not as fast as I would have liked, but **I would prefer not to sacrifice quality over posting sooner. I also would prefer not to begin posting, as I did with Book 1, until I have a large majority of the book done so I can update regularly.**

This is a clip from Allison and Percy's first day at their new school and their first meetings with the lovable **Tyson!** Do enjoy it!

* * *

I creaked open the door and quietly slipped in, sticking close to the wall. I pulled the shadows around me to help cover my presence. My target was sleeping, sprawled out, drooling on the bed across the room. A smile split my lips, the anticipation of what I was about to do making me bounce slightly. I was told to come in here and wake him up, and I sure was going to.

I crept forward, carefully avoiding the creaky spots in the floor - I had long since memorized them since we moved into this new place. It had only been a couple weeks that we had been living here, but it was already so much better than our last place. I was now beside his bed at his back. I leaned in near his head and took a deep breath, trying not to give myself away.

"PERCYYYY!" I shouted in his ear and dove behind the bed. Percy jerked awake, flailing around. I heard the distinct sound of Riptide turning into a sword and then the blankets got pulled away from where I was and I heard a loud thump.

"Wha- what's going on? Where's the fire?" I climbed over the bed and looked down at Percy. His hair was a bird's nest and he had a bit of drool on his cheek. He was tangled in a mess of blankets, Riptide out prepared to strike.

"Morning!" I greeted, swinging my feet back and forth.

"Wh-Morning? What kind of wake-up was _that?_ You scared me half to death Ally! What time is it - why is it still dark out?" Percy was looking up at me wide eyed - quite similar to an owl actually. He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand that wasn't holding his sword, then groaned and sat up.

"Please tell me you had an actual reason for waking me up this early." I stuck out a hand and he took it. I pulled him up and he sat on the bed next to me.

"Oh I don't know, just something called first day of seventh grade. No biggie. Got to start getting ready unless you want to start the year off late."

He capped Riptide and put it in his pajama pants pocket, flopping back down on the bed and let out a groan.

"Come on lazy bones, Sally is making pancakes." His head perked up at that, eyeing the door.

"Blue?"  
"Blue."

"You couldn't wake me up, oh I don't know, normally, though? My heart is still pounding, it's too early for this." I slid off the bed.

"But it got you up, didn't it?" He grumbled something inaudible. "What was that?"

"Nothing." He muttered.

"Thought so. You should wipe that drool off your cheek you know." I mimed where it was and he hastily rubbed at the spot.

"Better hurry up or there won't be any pancakes left!" I ran out of the room despite his protests to wait. I wanted to eat my breakfast, he could have set an alarm to wake up had he wanted first dibs.

After a short subway trip to downtown Manhattan and a walk we were at our new school. It was an odd building, it had all these odd little trinkets in the windows. There was a pair of large dice, a mini Volkswagen bug, and even a large squid stuffed animal. That was just one of the windows anyway. I knew we would be in for a treat at this place.

There was a large congregation of students hanging out outside the school but we slipped past them and went into the building. After receiving our class assignments we found our way to our English room.

Upon entering said room I could tell we would be in for an interesting year. Our teacher, a man with wild brown and grey hair like Einstein, who wore ratty jeans and had on a Jimi Hendrix "Watchtower" t-shirt. Now, I was not opposed to ol' Jimi, but to have a teacher wearing a t-shirt like that with his jeans and hair like that on the first day of school, that was peculiar.

"Why hello there, new students! Wonderful, wonderful!" He ushered us through the door and lead us to a collection of bean bag chairs. "My name is Mr. Henry!" I raised an eyebrow.

"Um, are those supposed to be our desks?" Percy asked, poking at a beanbag that had a fabric covered in mailboxes with his foot.

"Why yes indeed, Mr. ?"

"Jackson."

"Mr. Jackson. And you, young lady, would be?" He was beaming - anybody this excited about school this early in the morning was already in my books.

"Allison Cooper." I set down my bag next to a blue bean bag chair and flopped down. Percy chose the green one next to it and we scooted them away from the center of the collection. Mr. Henry was about to say something more, but then some other students ambled in the door. He pounced on them and started welcoming them in, rambling on in own his energy filled way.

A couple minutes and students later, during me and Percy's usual "Start of the School year" predictions, a very large boy came in the door. He was about six foot three by my guess.

Mr. Henry jovially went over and started talking to him.

"Ah, and you must be Tyson! Pleasure my lad, pleasure." He shook Tyson's hand, his own hand dwarfed.

"Yes, I am Tyson. Is this," He looked down at a paper, squinting. "uh, English?" Already I could tell some kids would make him a target. His speech was similar to a younger kid's, and he had this big innocent look about him. His hands were extra large and they had some scars covering them from what looked like handyman type work. When I looked to his face I froze. _Is he a Cyclops? What is he doing here in this school?_

"Why yes indeed! Come in, come in." Mr. Henry brought Tyson into the room and lead him to a bean bag chair. As they passed, Tyson looked to Percy in a curious manor. The slight breeze kicked up from them walking past made me stop. _Does that smell like how Percy smells?_ I was distinctly picking up the smell of the sea, and it wasn't just because Percy was right next to me. _What's going on here?_ But he was already past us before I could get a better sniff. I promised myself to look further into that.

Later that day at Lunch Percy and I sat at a cafeteria table, eating our lunches. There had been whispers about Tyson - he also turned out to be in a lot of Percy's classes. _Is this going to be like Grover?_ Some of the kids were talking or giggling about how he spoke, or smelled, or how he was apparently a kind of service project the school took on since he was homeless. I may not have been particularly fond of Cyclopes, one had after all distracted me while Chester took a hold of Nick all those years ago - that was not very flattering for them in my book. Many I had come across also went after demigods, even children of Poseidon. Tyson seemed different though. I stopped mid-chew as that thought passed through my mind. _Cyclopes are children of gods and nature-spirits gone wrong, but a majority from Poseidon. Could he be one of Poseidon's?_ But then that brought up the question of how could he happen to go to the one school the only other known child of Poseidon was going to?

My thoughts were cut short by the sound of a lunch tray hitting the floor and kids "ooo-ing". My head snapped over to where the noise came from, hand tensely hovering over my necklace. Over in the corner of the room sat Tyson alone at a table. He would have been completely alone there, except this kid in sloppy clothes and a mop of black hair and some of what I guessed to be his goons were busy laughing at the tears in Tyson's eyes as he looked at his knocked over lunch tray. His peanut butter sandwich had fallen apart and the peanut butter sides were laying on the ground, a milk carton dribbling out the last of his half-drunken milk.

I looked around for any teachers but there were none. _How do they expect a school of kids like this to all be in a room with food alone and_ not _expect mayhem to happen?_ I really didn't see their logic in that one. This was happening just two tables down from where Percy and I were sitting. All eyes in the cafeteria were glued on the scene, multiple of those laughing along with this jerk. My fist was clenched tightly, fingernails biting into my palm. Percy himself was gripping his fork tightly. I could tell by the way he readjusted his sitting position that he was debating going up. I was honestly thinking of that too, it was infuriating to see someone like Tyson who was really just so innocent being bullied.

"Aw, is the big baby crying about his spilled milk?" The main boy taunted, which caused more snickers.

"You.. you spilled peanut butter sandwich." Tears were threatening to fall.

"How can no teachers be seeing this?" Percy hissed to me as he angrily turned Riptide in pen form around in his hand. I put down my sandwich and put my hand over Riptide, shaking my head.

"Percy, not all problems can be solved with a sword."

The ceiling light above Tyson's table flickered again - it had been doing that all of lunch. _Nick would have shocked this punk onto his butt by now._ Sometimes I really wished I was able to shock people like he could.

I guess I missed something else Tyson said but the next thing heard was from the lead punk: "So you're a charity project then?"

I forced the shadows not to react to my emotions.

Tyson didn't know how to reply, thus causing more laughter. Looking around I noticed some other students that weren't hiding snickers, making themselves look away, unable to watch. _At least they have some decency._ Clearly they had experiences with this kid.

Suddenly the kid was behind Tyson trying to give him a wedgie. Percy abruptly stood and stalked up to the scene.

"What's your deal? Why don't you just leave him alone?" He questioned, pushing the kid away from Tyson.

"What's it to you? Are you friends with the freak? So you're a loser too!" More laughter. _Do these kids seriously have nothing better to do?_

"What's your name?" Percy asked, hand balled into a fist at his side. I started getting up from my seat

The kid suddenly took on a pompous look - one I had seen on enough Yancy Academy rich kids to be able to recognize.

"The name's Sloan, Matt Sloan." _James Bond, seriously kid?_

"Well, Matt, why don't you take your face and go somewhere else?"

I was only paces away now.

Matt's eyes narrowed, very similarly to dog's when angry.

"What did you just call me?" He raised his fist.

"I said, 'Why don't you take your face and go somewhere else?'"

"Are you calling me ugly?"

"Debatable."

Matt readied his fist and Percy started to raise his hands in defense. Before the punch could make contact with Percy's face I already knocked it aside and slammed my own fist into the kid's face. Kids gasped as Matt stumbled back, falling on his butt. My hand hurt a bit - he had a hard face, but it was _so_ satisfying.

"Gah! What the heck!" Sloan had his hand to his nose to stop the blood.

"Do you think it's funny to pick on people? Well I got news for you, _Sloan_. Stay away." I pulled what I liked to call my "signature child of Hades glare" and he shrunk back. I turned to Percy and Tyson, who both had their mouths open.

"Come on Tyson, let's get you a new lunch." I took his oversized hand and walked him away from Sloan and his goons, Percy following after a few seconds. Hushed whispers were flying through the cafeteria.

"We won't let him bother you again, buddy." I patted Tyson's shoulder and he gave me one of the most genuine smiles I have seen in awhile while Percy and I fist-bumped. I knew we were on the same page.

* * *

Have an awesome time on Halloween tomorrow (even though tomorrow is just 4 minutes away right now for me). I would love to hear about your Halloween costumes too! That is one of the best parts of Halloween for me personally. Have a bunch of fun and be safe out there! Tell me all about it! :D -Tasha


	2. Halloween

**10/31/15:** Happy Halloween! I wanted to post this short little clip to go with the spirit of the day. I have been listening to Halloween music to get into the spirit too, some of the music is pretty goofy also. Be sure to get lots of candy and stay safe out there!

* * *

"Percy, where is the sign for this?" I called out as I a readjusted the large brown blob that encompassed Tyson's large frame. Tyson was busy looking around in awe at the different decorations that were spread throughout the apartment, a large smile on his face, eyes alight. Sally was handing out candy to the most recent batch of kids that rang our bell.

"Got it." Percy came in holding the sign we had painted on a large piece of cardboard earlier. You could tell it was homemade, but it was a perfect costume for Tyson - he loved peanut butter after all. The homemade costumes were the best ones too. The sign had three stripes going vertically down its face; a red, a blue, and green, with a red horizontal stripe at the top to make the lid. In large print over the stripes was the word "Jif". That had taken about an hour to make yesterday after we got the supplies all sorted. Three lengths of string were positioned almost like how they would be on an apron to hold the sign up on him.

"Perfect!" I took the sign. "Tyson, bend down." He did and I was able to put the string loop at the top over his head. I moved around to his back and tied the strings to fasten it to him.

"Voila! You are now a jar of peanut butter!" I stood back to admire our work.

"Yay!" Tyson clapped.

I turned to Percy to get his reaction. He was standing by the couch rifling through the basket of candy corn that was on the coffee table. He was wearing what could be mistaken for a flying squirrel suit, had there been a fluffy tail attached.

"I don't know why you didn't want to be Nemo, Perce. Nemo is so cute."

"Nemo is overdone. Now stingrays - those guys are under appreciated." I rolled my eyes as he popped a handful of the candy corn into his mouth. "Wow Tyson, that costume looks good!"

"Indeed it does. Hey, have you seen my cloak?" Last I had seen it, it was draped on the back of the couch. I looked back to him only to get a face full of black fabric land on my face.

"You couldn't just hand it over like a normal person? You could have gotten face paint on it." I checked the black fabric over for traces of white paint but luckily there were none.

"Where would the fun be in that? Besides, the face paint shouldn't come off that easily. It's so cliché for you to go as a skeleton though, you know that, right?"

"Technically I am a skeleton with an epic cloak, get it right, and I know. Don't ruin my fun." I stuck my tongue out at him as I slipped on the cloak. Sally had helped me do my makeup to make me look like a skeleton. You might be laughing, a child of Hades dressing up as a skeleton? I didn't care though, I wanted to be a skeleton with an awesome cloak that made me mysterious, so that's what I did.

Halloween was always an interesting time for demigods; on one hand, you could walk around with weapons and not have anybody look twice, but monsters could hide easier among the crowds. It was kind of a double edged sword.

"Are you going to dance like a 'spooky scary skeleton'? The Skeleton Dance is old." I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

"Ha, ha. Very funny, and not in my book. Careful, or I might just dance right over your candy and flatten it."

His eyes narrowed and he faked a gasp. "You wouldn't!"

"You know I would." I mock glared back.

The Skeleton Dance was an old Disney cartoon that came out the year before I was born, so it was technically old after having been around for seventy-something years, but I was not that dated. That music would always come on around Halloween on the Radio and Nick and I would dance to it when we were little. We even got to see it once or twice in the clips played before movies at the theater. Now you could just search it up on the Internet and it would show up in a matter of seconds. To me it was more fun to go to the theater to see it. Sadly they didn't really do the short cartoons before movies anymore.

Sally came back into the room holding the bowl of candy. She wore a witch's hat and black clothes to get into the spirit without frightening the younger kids at the door.

"Oh don't you all look so cute." She set down the bowl and clasped her hands together. She handed each of us a trick or treating bag to collect our candy in.

"Don't stay out too late, I want you all back here by nine. No later. I trust you to stay safe and watch out for each other. Don't stray too far and wait to eat your candy until you get home."

"Okay, Mom." Percy groaned. We would get this talk every Halloween if we went out without her.

"You have your tools?" She asked, casting a glance to Tyson. He was playing with the stuffed cauldron on the counter.

"Don't worry, we have it covered." I showed her my necklace as Percy patted his pocket. She had been surprised the first time I showed her my knife and asked how I got it. I had to tell her it was a gift from my father - we had told her who he was after we got back from camp. She had been a bit surprised but amazingly didn't treat me any different, even though I shouldn't have expected anything different from her if she knew. I guess I was just paranoid about that whole "people knowing who Dad is" thing, with rightful reason.

"Stay together and have fun." She kissed us both on our foreheads.

"Come on Tyson, let's head out." Percy called.

"Candy time!" He cheered as we left.

We first hit the other apartments in our building, then branched out to the surrounding buildings. It was neat seeing all the other Halloween costumes everyone was wearing - there were the classics like zombies, skeletons, ghosts, werewolves, and witches, but there were different ones too. Leaving our building we passed a pair of kids dressed as Hon Solo and Chewbacca respectively. Tyson wanted to feel the fur on the Chewbacca but we told him there were still more places to get candy from.

We ran around to the different apartments, seeing who could ring their bell first. Percy was pretty funny to watch while he ran. His stingray suit tended to flap around him when he moved. I was able to forget the trouble today's school Halloween party had caused. They really should have expected somebody to knock over that cauldron and the stand with the colored lights on it. Sometimes our school confused me.

It was completely dark, nearing nine, and the younger kids were back in their homes when I started to feel weird. That sixth sense demigods had that told us a monster was nearby going off. We were walking on the street between buildings when the hair on my arms stood on end. I glanced around while trying not to make it too obvious that I had picked up on something. It would be hard to pick out the monster with all the people in costumes running around. It felt like we were being followed. I didn't want to pull my knife because I didn't want to scare Tyson, but I had to make sure we were safe.

"My shoe lace is untied, I will catch up with you in a minute." I told Percy as I bent down and started playing with my laces from under my cloak.

"Okay, come on Tyson, I hear the next building has a woman who gives out the really big chocolate bars." And they were off.

I brought myself against the wall to my right and pulled the shadows around me to hide, staying in my crouched position. I studied the figures walking past, trying to decipher which one didn't belong.

A teenager dressed as a demented clown passed by with some of his buddies, all laughing at some joke one of them must have said. I watched multiple people pass by before I saw her. She easily could have passed for teenage girl dressed a vampire from the movies, but I knew better. She was an Empousa. You could tell from her legs - one bronze, the other like a donkey's. She had a partly full candy bag in her hands to blend in but she was distinctly following us, but avoiding getting too close. _She probably knows what Tyson is and doesn't want to jump the gun._

I stood, activating my knife and slipping it my cloak sleeve over my hand and the weapon. The Empousa had stopped, sniffing the air, probably smelling me.

I walked up to her, using my candy bag to help hide my knife. I could tell she sensed the stygian iron nearby despite that. Monsters were a lot more afraid of the stuff compared to celestial bronze.

"You look lost, can I help you?" I asked, tapping her on the shoulder. She whirled around, startled. Then a smile grew on her face.

"Ah, yes. I am trying to find my.. little brother. Have you seen him? He was dressed like Superman."

"Hm, haven't seen him. A bit late for little kids to still be out, don't you think? I've seen you around before though tonight," I laughed. "almost like you were following me. How crazy would that be?"

"Yes, crazy." She shifted her weight.

"Hm, you know, you probably should have covered your legs if you wanted to hide better. You kind of stuck out like a sore thumb." I shrugged, readying my grip on the handle of my blade.

Her face dropped. "Why you - it's rude to mention the legs!" She started to lunge at me but I ducked to the side and stabbed her with my knife. She screamed and burst into a cloud of gold dust. I smiled, brushing of the dust from my clothes.

"Gotta love Halloween, all the creeps are out tonight." I turned my knife back into its necklace form and walked towards where Percy and Tyson had gone. They were just coming down from a little sub-shop's steps when I met back up with them.

"Allison! Where were you? I heard a-"

"Yeah I heard it too, looked like it was just some teens playing a prank on their friend. Come on though, it's getting close to nine, Sally will kill us if we aren't back in time."

That night we ate baked pumpkin seeds, had some blue chocolate chip cookies, traded candy, and watched some of the not as scary Halloween movies. Sally limited our candy consumption, which probably was a good idea, but that didn't mean we didn't try to sneak some. I didn't bother mentioning the Empousa, I had taken care of her without a lot of trouble. I didn't see the need in worrying anybody. It was awesome to see Tyson so happy though, at school he was typically nervous because of the other kids. I even gave him a real jar of Jif to top off the night.


	3. Central Park

**AN 1/22/16:** Hello new and old readers! I just wanted to post this and say that I was at a big writer's block point for a time in Book 2, but now I have worked past that and things are going well. I hope you have had a good start to the new year. Enjoy this short clip!

* * *

The winter holidays passed quietly, as did my birthday. Small gifts were exchanged and holiday food was eaten. Percy and I were back in school by now, winter break having ended. Sally was letting me go out and practice building up my shadow travel endurance with the promise to return by the time it got dark. I had been traveling around the city, each time traveling a little further.

I landed in Central Park, winter coat pulled tight around me. Snow was still on the ground from last week's snowstorm, the sides of the streets lines with grey and black snow by this point. It was nothing like how it used to be in Colorado - out there the snow could stretch for miles, undisturbed, pure white. Here the only spaces here the snow could last longer was in the parks, and even then it got disturbed by people walking their dogs and other foot traffic.

I thought about school a couple hours ago - we had to present our projects on an era of the twentieth century. I chose the twenties - the prime of my mother's life. Percy went with the thirties. I think it was his way of learning more about my first life in a sense, as he went to me for most of his information. I appreciated him trying to learn more, but at the same time bringing up those old memories was kind of hard. After the quest last summer I had gained some new friends to share my past with. It made things easier, but not perfect.

 _"And that is life in the Dust Bowl of the nineteen-thirties."_ Percy had concluded as he stood at the front of the class. Mr. Henry burst into enthusiastic applause, the rest of the class giving a few claps before stopping, as they did with most of the other students except their friends.

 _"Riveting! Absolutely riveting, Mr. Jackson. Wonderful job - such detail! I must ask, where did you find these stories?"_ Mr. Henry looked to Percy with a bright smile on his face.

Percy froze, his eyes flicking to me for a moment. I saw him shift uneasily for a moment, then he got this tiny sort of impish grin on his face. _"My grandma told me some stories from her childhood."_ He cast the briefest look to me, lips pursed, obviously trying to hide his smile. I narrowed my eyes at him... he would pay for that later- I was nobody's grandma!

I did have to laugh about it later though after smushing his face into the remaining piece of birthday cake he was eating when we got home from school. After that I set out to what I was doing now, shadow travel practice.

I smiled at the memory of pushing Percy's face into the cake as I walked. He knew I was going to get back at him at some point for indirectly teasing me in class- even if the class didn't know it -and laughed along with me.

There were some kids littered throughout the park playing in the snow, building snow forts and having snowball fights. The tops of the snow had kind of iced over at this point, so I didn't know how being hit with a snowball like that would feel, but I didn't really try to find out.

I sat down against a large rock a little ways away from the path, stretching out and letting the winter sun warm up my face as I listened to the city around me. The honks of cars, blares of music from car radios, and the hum of all the vehicles and people. I crossed my arms and leaned back further against the rock.

I was able to get more distance now than I had at the start of last summer, but I still wanted to get better, even if it made me tired. After my father healed the hellhound cuts it had caused a kind of release on my energy reserves, as if they had been suppressed. I figured that was probably the Fates messing with my life again, possibly making it so monsters didn't find me when I was three or something. At least there was one benefit to it.

I sat there for a while, enjoying the day, the snow insulating me even if it got me a bit damp. The lull of the city was soon disturbed by an odd sound- it was almost like scuttling. That wasn't right, there was no scuttling like that normally in the city, unless it was a dog pulling at its leash or something. A shadow passed over my face from the rock above and I just had time to roll out of the way before a giant stinger hit the rock where my face had been.

I backed up quickly, shooting a cursory look around for mortals before activating my sword. A giant scorpion had leaped down from the rock I was just at, pincers snapping together, its beady black eyes glittering. It was about the side of a labrador, way bigger than any normal scorpion should ever grow to be.

"Someone's been hitting the juice." I muttered, watching the scorpion carefully. This was the first monster since Percy and I left camp, if you didn't count Tyson, that I encountered. I should have been expecting something like this by now; I was surprised that it wasn't something bigger than this knowing my luck. Either way though, it was a monster and it was attacking, so it needed to die.

It clicked its pincers again, stinger poised and ready to strike. It leaped at me and I slid sideways on the icy surface of the snow, swinging my sword. There was an odd noise that I couldn't really describe aside from a scorpion in pain, and one of its two pincers was sliced off. It reeled back from the blow. I had been half expecting it to just disintegrate first strike, but it seemed resilient.

It jumped at me again, this time with more speed. Its stinger whipped forward and I had to bat it away with my sword before plunging the blade through its exoskeleton and into the main part of its body. It let out that weird sound again, then it burst into golden dust, littering the snow with a new glittery color. I extracted my sword from the snow and deactivated it, slipping my bracelet back onto my wrist. I rolled my shoulders, looking around for any more scorpions. There was nothing.

"Well, going solo can end badly, after all." I told the dust, stepping over it and walking back onto the path. I picked up some blue candy for Percy on my way home with my pocket change, mentioning the scorpion only to him to prevent Sally from worrying. He made a face, closing his hand into a fist. On the back of his hand was a asterisk shaped scar from the last scorpion that had paid either of us a visit.

* * *

That night I thought on that last scorpion encounter. My mind drifted to where Luke could be at this very moment, probably plotting the doom of Olympus or something. I shook my head, turning over in my bed. Chiron would IM us if anything happened, and I didn't really think he would hunt us down at our apartment. He would have better, more doom inducing things to do than come here. I closed my eyes, listening to my clock tick away as each second passed, the hum of city life outside my window.


End file.
